Where Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang ate during 3-day Seoul visit

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang eats a wrap, or ssam, while having dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman of the Board Lee Hae-jin at Hyungnim Jeoyo, a pork belly barbecue restaurant in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon

Pork belly paired with somaek — a blend of soju and beer — followed by kimchi-marinated cold noodles, ginseng chicken soup and multiple rounds of fried chicken.

This was the unscripted list of food Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang chose during his three-day trip to Korea. Mingling with everyday citizens and top tech executives at local establishments, the head of the chipmaker has given domestic food brands an unexpected global publicity boost.

Arriving on Friday, Huang visited Hyungnim Jeoyo, a pork belly barbecue restaurant near Hongik University Station in western Seoul, with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman of the Board Lee Hae-jin. After cleansing his palate with kimchi-marinated cold noodles, Huang spontaneously walked three minutes to a BBQ Chicken franchise for a second round.

The following evening, he visited Tosokchon Samgyetang in central Seoul with his family. Arriving without a reservation, he called the restaurant just 30 minutes prior to eat samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) and pajeon (green onion pancake).

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, right, walk to a lunch meeting at Woo Lae Oak in Euljiro, central Seoul, Sunday. Newsis

The impromptu meals continued Sunday. At 11:50 a.m., Huang, who is scheduled to visit the Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in southern Seoul Monday, made a surprise lunch visit to Woo Lae Oak in central Seoul to eat Pyongyang naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) and bulgogi with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun.

Later that afternoon, Huang threw the ceremonial first pitch at a professional baseball game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium and enjoyed BBQ "Crunch Boneless Cracker" chicken, ordering 113 boxes for his section, with his colleagues.

That evening, he met Chey again for fried chicken and beer at a branch of Kkanbu Chicken in southern Seoul's Gangnam District, the same location where he held a "Kkanbu" — or trusted friend — meeting last October with Chung and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

While his eldest daughter, Madison Huang, Nvidia's head of product marketing for Omniverse and Robotics, coordinates his schedule, the dining choices reflect his personal preferences. Huang signed restaurant tables, handed out snacks modeled after SK hynix's high-bandwidth memory chips and praised the local cuisine, saying, "Korea has the world's best fried chicken."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang eats kimchi-marinated cold nooodles while having dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman of the Board Lee Hae-jin at Hyungnim Jeoyo, a pork belly barbecue restaurant in Hongdae in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon

His approach has delighted the local food industry, with one official saying the tour "amounts to an unexpected global promotional boost."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won hand out snacks and fried chicken at a branch of Kkanbu Chicken in Gangnam District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.